According to TV by the Numbers, the season 2 premiere was seen by 12.3 million viewers and received a 5.5 rating in the coveted 18- to 49-year-old segment. That was 50 percent higher than its September premiere last year.

'NCIS' on CBS was the big winner, drawing 18.92 million viewers, its spinoff, 'NCIS: LA,' was seen by 15.68 million and 13.60 million in its second hour.

In other TV news ...• The talk of canceling 'Lone Star' is a bit premature. Fox will give the struggling Texas drama another chance, airing a new episode next week. The series has been hailed by critics as one of the season's best new shows, but premiered to lousy ratings. [Vulture]• Acclaimed choreographer and 'Fame' star Debbie Allen has signed on to direct an episode of 'Hellcats.' The CW drama has tapped Allen to direct an episode that features a huge musical number. [E! Online]• ABC has picked up Jerry Bruckheimer Productions' 'The Lost Girls.' The project is based on the blog and novel of the same name by Jennifer Baggett, Holly Corbett and Amanda Pressner. The trio ditched their corporate jobs, boyfriends and city life to go on a year-long journey. [Deadline Hollywood]

(S06E24) From six to one, it was a night of eliminations on the sixth season finale of So You Think You Can Dance. They even trotted out six judges to sit in on the festivities. Joining Nigel Lythgoe, Mary Murphy and Adam Shankman on the dais were Lil' C, Tyce Diorio and Debbie Allen.

This allowed the show to have the judges "pick" their favorite performances of the season and have them performed again. I'm always suspect as to just how many of these choices are truly the picks of each particular judge, or if the judges are just chosen to introduce the dances the producers want to showcase again.

We also got guest appearances by dance troupe The Groovaloos, and a quartet of singers: Mary J. Blige, Jennifer Lopez, Leona Lewis and Adam Lambert. They didn't all sing together, but could you imagine that performance if they had?

(S06E09) Tonight, we started with 38 dancers, and by the end of the hour, the Top 20 stood revealed. I'm never quite sure how to take these episodes; American Idol always has one, as well. For the most part, it's just contestants walking in front of the judges and hearing "Yes" or "No." For those of us who've been watching since the beginning and finding our early favorites, it can be a little tense and exciting.

But then I think about someone who's never watched the show, and who's maybe tuning in for the first time tonight. What a boring hour of television they would be in for. You barely get any snippets from the good dancers who make it through. Mostly it's just a parade of faces you don't know and lots of crying.

But before we get to the tears, we need to get excited. For the first time, and to give everyone a more even playing field going into the first performance show, this Monday at 8pm ET, FOX offers a special non-elimination episode where the Top 20 get to show us their stuff.

(S06E07) So many judges, so little time. Tyce DiOrio, Mia Michaels, Debbie Allen, Adam Shankman, Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe all sat in judgment of the 152 dancers who survived the audition rounds. The pace of the show picks up dramatically when we get to Vegas, and somehow I had myself convinced they were going to cram the entire week into tonight's one-hour episode.

Thankfully, I'm an idiot. Vegas Week continues next week for you and me. In fact, we only got through the first two days. But in that time, we lost nearly half of the contestants including several early favorites, and certainly some favorites of mine.

The more I see of these dancers, though, the more excited I am for this season. I thought last season suffered from the blands through a lot of it, despite some amazing choreographed performances, but there are a lot of really dynamic personalities already shining through.

(S05E23) I think Cat Deeley looked fabulous tonight. The panel was chock-full of choreographers: Lil' C, Mia Michaels, Tyce Diorio, Debbie Allen, Adam Shankman, Mary Murphy and Nigel Lythgoe. They brought them all up on the dais so they could each choose their favorite dances from throughout the season. That means encore performances of the best of Season 5. That's not a bad way to fill two hours.

In the end, though, it comes down to Kayla, Brandon, Jeanine and Evan. Who did America love the most last night and throughout the summer? The recap actually gave me tingles. Despite a distinct lack of personalities, there were some stunning moments of dance. And I'm ever so thrilled that the new season is less than a month away. It's a long show, so hang in there.

(S05E16) America finally has full control of the eliminations on So You Think You Can Dance. Cat reminds us that the couples will all be shuffled randomly. Was height ever a hot topic as is was tonight? The tallest kept getting paired up with the shortest in random draws. At least it reinforced the idea that the pairings were no longer rigged.

I want more Debbie Allen as the third judge. Her comments may be equally insane as Mia Michaels, but she comes off as the supportive mother with the way she speaks and the words she uses.

Were the Vegas rounds ever this hard? I never remember the intensive dancing in previous seasons, but I feel as though the contestants were pushed really hard because they were all a lot better than the judges expected.

It's a little childish, but I laughed when Mia Michaels exclaimed, "I'm a cutter." She seems to always say or do things that are a little risqué, but her opinions are always heard. As for the other judges, Mary was sedated, Lil C only said "buck" once, and I missed Debbie Allen for being that supportive mother type.

Instead of day by day analysis, we're going to take a look at some of the hits and misses for the dancers.

(S03E20) Holy smokes. Call me crazy if you don't agree, but I'm calling this the best episode of the season. There hasn't been a standout number one performance every week, but there has always been something that didn't quite work, or didn't quite measure up to the rest. I didn't find that here.

It would seem that the talk about the choreographers stepping things up wasn't just talk as all of them delivered great routines for the dancers to perform. The criticisms were few and far between this week, from me, and from the judges. That would be Nigel and Mary as usual, joined this week by Debbie Allen. After the jump, we'll get to all of the performances, and a rant about Fox scheduling.

(S03E11) After a crazy performance show it was only natural to expect that anything could happen on elimination night. Things started out normally enough with a group performance to "The Lion's Hunt" from the Lion King soundtrack, choreographed by Tyce Diorio.

It was not my favorite of the group performances, but it was fun. The thing I found interesting was that, like last week, this one also ended with the focus on Sabra. I'm taking that as a subliminal message for people to vote for her. She's quickly becoming my favorite in the competition.

(S03E10) So You Think You Can Dance, come for the dancing, stay for the drama... One of the things I really like about the show is that they stay pretty heavily focused on the competition. Sure, we get the sometimes useless backstage bits, but they have to fill out the two hours of their summer hit somehow. For the most part though, they do steer clear of the theatrics and keep the actual dancing in the spotlight. That broke down a little tonight, though maybe not as much as it could have. More on that later.

First, look over there, it's dance legend (we can call her a legend, right?) Debbie Allen sitting in as guest judge. I had heard that she was going to be making an appearance and have been looking forward to it. She didn't disappoint either. Throughout the show she was a lot of fun. Nigel and Mary were, of course, along for the ride. So, with the introduction out of the way, on to the performances... and the drama.

J-Lo is the new Debbie Allen. Just like Allen before her, J-Lo is ushering young dance hopefuls into the television limelight. Unlike Debbie Allen, who played Ms. Grant on Fame, J-Lo will not be giving the following speech on MTV's Dancelife: "You want fame? Well, fame costs, and right here, is where you start paying - in sweat."

Lopez, who started out as a fly girl on In Livin' Color and wound up a one-woman corporation, is the producer of MTV's latest reality series - Dancelife, premiering on January 15th. The series follows the story of six dancers looking to make it big in the rough and tumble world of professional dance. You can read the stars' bios online, and an extended preview video has cropped up on YouTube. The series looks like it falls on the Laguna Beach-end of the reality show spectrum - more soap opera than competition. At least, the show's stars have more talent than your average Laguna Beach high schooler or Twentyfourseven party promoter. Now, if only I could "remember, remember, remember their names."

American Idol champ Fantasia Barrino is bringing out the big guns for her second album. The R&B vocalist's second outing will drop on December 12th, and this time she's bringing Missy Elliott, Outkast's Big Boi, Babyface and Swiss Beatz with her. The only big name producers she hasn't snagged are Timbaland, Kanye and The Neptunes, but give Miss Thing time.

Fantasia seems to be pulling a Mary J. Blige on her second release - beefing up the hip-hop element and telling fans, "I've let go of things from the past and I'm having a good time. Now I'm on a whole different level." No more drama for Ms. Barrino, and man, did she know from drama. The High Point, NC native is a single mother who struggled with literacy problems and had her rags to riches stories made into a Lifetime original movie directed by Debbie "Fame" Allen.

American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino will star in a Lifetime Original Movie about her own life, called Life is Not a Fairy Tale: The Fantasia Barrino Story. The press release describes her story as "inspired by the true story of Fantasia Barrino, a teenage mother who overcame poverty, sexual abuse and illiteracy by using her incredible voice to rise to national prominence." Fantasia will play herself. Loretta Devine (Crash), Viola Davis (Traffic) and Kadeem Hardison (A Different World) will also star. Debbie Allen will direct.